Glossary
Chemical recycling
The processes by which fibres are broken down to the polymer or monomer level. There are diverse recycling technologies encompassed under this archetype, including amongst others pulping processes to recycle cotton and viscose, to solvent-based processes to recycle polyester and polycotton, to processes such as glycolysis, hydrolysis and enzymatic that take polyester and polyamide back to monomers.
Disruptor
An element present on a textile product (eg. fastener, button, zipper, fabric patch etc.) that may be a disruptor to the recycling process and will need to be removed before the product is suitable as feedstock for recycling.
Downcycling
Reprocessing discarded textiles to create new consumer or industrial products, in a process that is usually mechanical (cutting, shredding, bonding). Discarded textiles are no longer in their original form, and new products do not re-enter the textile supply chain, resulting in a subsequent use that is of lower value than the original source of the material.
Mechanical recycling
The process by which textiles are cut, shredded and opened into fibres that are usable for diverse applications. They may include downcycling applications such as fibres for insulation, filling or non-woven for automotive and other industries as well as fibre-to-fibre applications. For the purpose of this Project, the potential feedstock for mechanical recycling is only presented for fibre-to-fibre recycling.
Non-rewearable
Garments and household textiles that cannot be reused in their original form and are made from one or multiple types or layers of textiles.
Post-Industrial
Any waste that gets generated as a by-product of industrial processes such as milling, spinning, printing and garmenting. This waste is a subset of the pre-consumer waste.
Post-Consumer
Textiles that have been disposed of after consumption and use by the citizen or end-users of commercial or industrial institutions, processed by a specialised textile sorter.
Pre-consumer
Pre-consumer waste includes all post-industrial waste as well as any leftover/unsold materials or products such as fabric ends, unsold garments, etc. This website does not incorporate pre-consumer waste due to limited coverage.
Rewearable
Garments that can be reused in their original form, for their original purpose. This category is known as "product reuse" among many textile collectors/sorters.
